Liquor licensing laws and alcohol purchasing rates

74% of New Zealand adults drink alcohol in
an average four week period, down from 77% in 2009 but still
slightly above the Australian rate of 70%, data from Roy
Morgan Research shows.

But despite only this small gap in
consumption, the rate of alcohol purchasing is much higher
in New Zealand than in Australia—a difference that may be
a result of the two countries’ liquor licensing laws. In
the year to June 2014, 59.4% of Kiwis bought alcohol in a
four-week period, compared with 49.6% of Australians.

This difference in purchasing rates reflects the two
countries’ liquor licensing laws. In each country, one
particular channel is most popular among the vast majority
(76%) of alcohol —but in New Zealand that channel is
supermarkets, while in Australia it’s individual
retailers.

45.2% of New Zealanders bought alcohol from a
licensed supermarket in the last four weeks, compared with
only 9.3% of Australians. Instead, 37.6% of Australians
bought from an individual liquor retailer (compared with
29.4% of Kiwis) and nearly 1 in 10 bought from a hotel
bottle shop (9.8%), a channel used by just 1 in 100 New
Zealanders (1.0%).

All New Zealand’s major grocery
supermarkets including Pak’nSave, New World and Countdown
are licensed to stock beer and wine on the shelves, but in
Australia only some (in some states) are permitted. Instead,
Australia’s two main supermarket chains Coles and
Woolworths each own numerous individual retailers.

Pip
Elliott, General Manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ,
says:

“In New Zealand, it’s a one-stop shop for milk,
bread, eggs and beer at the supermarket, while Australians
have to make a separate trip to an individual retailer for
their booze, even if it’s just next door to the parent
supermarket.

“That the gap between our rates of purchase
is so much wider than the consumption gap suggests that
having beer and wine available at the local supermarket
means Kiwis buy their alcohol more regularly, while
Australians tend to stock up during the separate, less
regular trips to the liquor store like Dan Murphy’s, BWS,
Liquorland, Vintage Cellars or First Choice—all owned by
one of the two supermarket giants.

“Further
investigation of these patterns and comparisons could help
licensing bodies, retailers and suppliers better understand
the relationships between channel and
consumption.”

A full service research organisation specialising in omnibus and syndicated data, Roy Morgan Research has over 70 years' experience in collecting objective, independent information on consumers. Roy Morgan Research was set up in New Zealand in the 1990s and has been collecting information across a wide range of industries in New Zealand ever since. Roy Morgan currently has over 10 years of trended data on a geographically and demographically representative sample of over 12,000 New Zealanders aged 14+.

Contact Roy Morgan Research

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